Please see information below which may be helpful for your church:

Places of Worship Protective Security Funding Scheme – applications open

The Home Office has announced that the fourth round of the Places of Worship (POW) Protective Security Funding Scheme is open for applications until 23:59 on the 31 August 2019. Over the first three years of the scheme more than 130 places of worship have been awarded grants to install measures such as protective alarms, security lighting and access controls.

This year’s scheme has been made easier for places of worship and associated faith community centres to apply.  Applicants no longer need to find their own quotes for security measures; instead applicants will benefit from a central supplier for assessments, quotes and installation. The Home Office was aware of the need for the chosen central supplier to have experience working with listed places of worship. Please let me know if you hear of any suggested works in listed buildings that are not appropriate to the setting.

In addition faith community centres are now included. Applicants no longer need to show they have already experienced hate crime, the test will be vulnerability to hate crime.

The scheme is open to places of worship and associated faith community centres (a community centre run by a place of worship or near a place of worship that is faith based, and where regular worship takes place) across England and Wales.

Further details of the funding scheme and how to apply are here.

National Lottery Heritage Fund grants over £5m

The Heritage Fund has announced its first scheme for grants over £5m under its new strategic framework. Expressions of interest are invited by 11 October 2019. The strategic priorities for the scheme are landscape and nature, and heritage at risk. Churches are able to apply, although the scheme is not for all expressions of heritage. Information here.

For churches seeking funding between £250,000 and £5m there is more information here.

Grants for roof alarms
Grants of £1,000 are available to churches for roof alarms from Allchurches Trust. This has been provided to county historic churches trusts and dioceses on the basis of a £1,000 grant per church. To see if you are in an eligible area click here. Roof alarms are an effective deterrent, especially when a group of churches in an area is fitted with them.

Automatic door time locks

Ecclesiastical has recently published new guidance on automatic door time locks, to facilitate keeping churches open during the day for visitors when it is not straightforward to arrange a person to attend to unlock ad then close the church each day. It is still desirable that a person who knows the church sees it regularly, but the automatic lock gives greater freedom over when this happens.

National Lottery Heritage Funding for Places of Worship

Find out what the NLHF will support

https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/hub/places-worship

Looking for a church to visit over the Easter Break?

The Churches Trust for Cumbria, Cumbria Tourism and ExploreChurches are working together to promote Cumbria’s sacred church heritage.

A further round of funding for security at places of worship has been announced by the government. Applications for the scheme have not opened yet and it is presently anticipated for the middle of the year. When it is announced I will let you know promptly. If you have churches in your diocese who are considering applying to the fund please bear in mind that it is particularly intended for places of worship vulnerable to hate crime, although it is no longer necessary to prove that they have experienced an incident directly.

Come and join us with a range of national and professional speakers at our free workshops and information days, 9.30 – 3.30pm lunch included.

1st May at Penrith Methodist Church – Michael Murray Deputy Chief Executive, National Churches Trust – New Funding strategy, ExploreChurches and MaintenanceBooker.

15th May at St Aidan’s Cafe, Barrow – Kay Short, Ecclesiastical Insurance – Church security and safety and Bruce Mumford, Technical Advisor Heating and Lighting.

22nd May at St Michael, Workington – Kay Short, Ecclesiastical Insurance – Church security and safety and Bruce Mumford, Technical Advisor Heating and Lighting.

11th September at Penrith Methodist Church – National Lottery Heritage Fund – New Funding Strategy

18th September South TBA – Ian Simpson, Historic England Heritage Officer, Diocese of Liverpool

25th September West TBA – Ian Simpson, Historic England Heritage Officer, Diocese of Liverpool

If you would like to attend any of the above days please contact me on 07979 606131 and jayne@ctfc.org.uk

The Churches Trust for Cumbria wins support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund   

The Churches Trust for Cumbria has received a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £75,400 for an exciting heritage project, Caring for Cumbria’s Churches.  Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the project focuses on improving the sustainability and resilience of church buildings across Cumbria.
The project will provide those who care for our church buildings with training and skills to better manage these unique buildings. It also aims to realise the potential of church buildings as community assets and raise their profile as places of valuable heritage interest.
Supported through the National Lottery Heritage Lottery Fund (NLHF), the 18 month, ecumenical project will enable those who care for church buildings to improve their maintenance, and develop a long-term strategy for their sustainability and resilience.  A series of videos will  explore their potential as places of worship, heritage and community assets and help us to better understand these unique ‘living’ buildings, in order that they remain for future generations. The series of videos will be produced by specialist TV production company Brilliant Trees Media who have strong links with the region.

CTfC will be hosting a series of workshops, three in May and three September in the north, south and west, I will confirm dates and locations in due course.  I am also looking for churches to pilot a building Inspection template to help with maintenance.  Please get in touch with me if you would like to help, or I will be attending the God for All Big Discussion on 1st March – come and say hello.

The Heritage Lottery Fund have from 29^th January adopted a name changes and will now be known as The National Lottery Heritage Fund.  Along with the new look they also have a new 5 year strategy and a new approach.  The changes are to make a clearer link between playing The National Lottery and the good causes that benefit and they come in The National Lottery’s 25th anniversary year.

New approach

• • A major focus on nature, communities, and on ensuring everyone is able to enjoy heritage – three top priorities for people who responded to the consultation
  • new models of investment, moving beyond grants to include loans and partnerships, designed to attract others to invest money alongside the National Lottery
  • more support for commercial, sustainable approaches to tackling heritage that’s in danger of being lost
  • investment and support to help heritage organisations to be more financially sustainable
  • a requirement for every heritage project that receives funding to be environmentally friendly
  • simpler, streamlined and more efficient funding
  • greater engagement and support to help 13 deprived communities that have in the past been less successful securing funding
  • continued support for large-scale, iconic projects over £5million

Below is a brief breakdown of their new grants.

Acknowledging excellence in the repair of places of worship of all denominations and faiths in England and Wales, the John Betjeman ward is accepting application until 26th February 2019.  Importantly, the award is always made to the building rather than an individual, so this is a chance for the whole community to celebrate a local building. Details and nomination process can be found here:  https://www.spab.org.uk/about-us/awards/john-betjeman-award

The National Charitable Grants list has been updated.

The list provides practical information on potential sources of funding for various church related projects and is available on the Parish Resources website (or you can download it by clicking here).

It is worth noting that this is a national list, and therefore contains no information about local funders.  It is also a large document if you are printing it.

CTfC are working together with the National Churches Trust ExploreChurches to promote our churches.  See the full article here

If you would like to have your church included on the National ExploreChurches website please contact me at jayne@ctfc.org.uk

These are some of simplest but most effective jobs that can be done as they require very little specialist equipment, and yet if undertaken regularly, they can save the parish a fortune in repairs. However, as with any maintenance work, always ensure that several people are present on site to hold ladders steady, and follow all health and safety guidance.

Clearing rainwater goods

Gutters, hopper and downpipes can easily become blocked with fallen leaves, sticks and weeds through the year, particularly during the autumn. It is also not unheard of for birds to choose wide gutters to nest in and once abandoned, whole nests can wash along and block outlets preventing rainwater from clearing.  Cracks and splits in gutters, downpipes and hoppers can be caused by wear and tear, movement or by water freezing during very cold spells, and these can also cause problems.

If the rainwater goods become blocked or broken the water will overflow, running down the side of the building, or in the case of parapet gutters, it can back up and run over the top of the wall, saturating the eaves. Over time this can lead to the walls and roof timbers becoming saturated, plaster and paintings deteriorating, woodwork going mouldy and in the worst cases rot / insect attack can set in. The whole church will feel cold and damp, and these significant problems, which could easily have been avoided, will cost a great deal of money to rectify.

Removing vegetation

It is easy to remove small weeds from rainwater goods which are usually just seedlings blown in by the wind. However, when much heavier vegetation has taken hold within the stonework such as ivy, buddleia or valerian this will require a little more effort to eradicate it. Large expanses of vegetation should be carefully checked for bird’s nests before any removal is attempted. The most important thing is not to just try and pull it off the walls / gutters as it will take the mortar out of the joints leaving you with re-pointing to do as well.